September 7th, 2022 by Jon
We woke up in our hotel beds and boy… I did not want to get out of it. Eventually we got up around 7:30 and after getting ready we wandered down to the coffee shop at the end of the street. We had two delicious coffee’s and some yogurt before spending a bunch of time looking at lodging options in Chelan and coming up with a plan and figuring out logistics for the end of this thing. Around 9:30 we headed back to organize our food and pack our backpacks so we were ready for the next section. At 11:00 we checked out and headed over to the laundromat which actually ended up being the perfect hangout spot for the rest of the day. We did laundry, sat in super comfy chairs, and could do last minute charging of devices. It was also only a block away from the deli so we could get more sandwiches during the day.
As we did laundry we found lodging in Chelan, reserved ferry tickets, our friends started buying their tickets for home, and it started to feel all too real that this crazy adventure was actually coming to a close. Only 107 miles stand between us and the end of this thing. We spent the rest of the afternoon doing internet chores and catching up on the news of the world and then at 4:00 we met our ride out in front of the gear shop and caught a ride back up to the pass. We got out, thanked the driver who actually owns that gear shop, gave him some gas money and then spent some time dinning around at the ski lodge. We picked up a package that Wilco’s friend had sent him and enjoyed some of the contents before finally hitting the trail.
But first we had to walk over the highway on the pedestrian bridge, cross a huge overflow lot for the ski area, and then finally get on trail. We had a 5.5 mile climb up out of the pass. We went through thick pine forest, passed a few babbling streams, and enjoyed being with Biscuit and Wilco again. The trail was fairly easy and the climb actually didn’t feel too bad. We finally got to the top and then climbed down into a small lake basin with Valhalla lake at the bottom. We found a large tent site where all of us could fit by the stream that went through a meadow and fed the lake. We at around for a long dinner hour, talking about favorite parts of trail, lowest moments, and lots of random memories. I feel like now that the end is coming, all I want to do is savor every moment.
